OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

*3* MAINLY MAIGRET
" As we've seen tonight, there's only one person who could have
taken the cap. Any was left for a moment just as she was abreast
Oosting's boat.
"As for the cigar, there's no need to go into that. Here in
Holland one can pick up an old cigar-end at any time of the day.
* . . As regards leaving it in the dining-room, Any was apparently
the only one to enter the room during the evening. . . .
" But at the time the shot was fired she had about as good an
alibi as it's possible to have."
Still shunning the gaze of his audience, Maigret laid some plans
on the table, the plans Duclos had made of the house.
" It was impossible for Any to reach the bathroom without
passing through her sister's room or the professor's. A quarter
of an hour before the murder, she was known to be in her room,
and no one saw her leave k, though both the other rooms were
occupied. How, then, could she have fired a shot from the bathroom
window?
" Any's been through a legal training, and she's read books on
criminology. She knows the value of material evidence. ..."
The girl stood taught and rigid. She was obviously under great
Strain, but she did not lose her self-possession.
" To leave the crime for a moment, I must say something about
Popinga. I'm the only person here who has never seen him, but I've
managed to form a pretty clear idea of the man he was. ... If he
was thirsty for the pleasures of life, he was none the less easily
intimidated by social conventions and established rules of conduct.
In a reckless moment he made a pass at Beetje, but their subsequent
delations were as much her doing as his—if not much more. With
the servant he didn't go so far, as he didn't receive any great
encouragement.
" A weakness for the fair sex—could one really call it more than
that? He commits little peccadilloes. He steals a kiss here and a kiss
there. Sometimes more than a kiss.
" He has known life on the high seas and in foreign ports. An
Unfettered existence. But he is now in a permanent situation and
a servant of the State, and he holds on to his post, to his house,
to his wife... . He's not in the least anxious to put his head in a
noose....
" He's torn both ways, and he strikes a compromise, the balance
being heavily on the side of caution....
" That's what Beetje never understood. Caution doesn't mean